I'd like to post a serious question to our centrist friends here on DU

[DancingBear]

(caveat: I believe many of you to be sincere. I also believe just as many of you are here playing games. I address myself to those who hold the belief that centrism is what wins elections, and builds a party base)

I've a simple question to ask - nothing more. George Bush has been President for five years. He came to power with a clear agenda, that being to move this country so far to the right that it would be literally unrecognizable to its founding fathers. I argue that he has succeeded beyond his wildest dreams.

I ask you this - please tell me in what way any centrist Democrat, has contributed ANYTHING in the way of trying to stop this agenda. Have they worked tirelessly like John Conyers to look for the truth about 9/11, or the NSA scandals? Have they worked, like Kerry and Kennedy, to try and stop a man whose main goal is to legitimize anything that George Bush wants to do, legal or not? Have they stood with Al Gore as he tries to make America aware of the dangers that this President holds in his hands?

PLease tell me why I should not put every ounce of my political capital into supporting a true progressive candidate, who unlike your centrist friends will not cower at the sight of a sociopath, but rather try and tell the world of the insanity that sits before it? Please tell me why, if all I crave is a glass of water, I should be happy for piss in a jar because the other side would not allow me anything at all?

Do not, in your answer, sit the same old tired straw man of "well if we don't stand behind him or her we'll get a Republican in that seat" in front of me. I will not answer you, for you have not answered me. I am asking why those in Washington state should not rally behind a true progressive in the upcoming primary, or why those in Connecticut should not try and send the pitiful fool that is Joe Lieberman packing, to be replaced by a Democrat who will look the Republican Party in the eye and say "not in my lifetime."

Just tell me how, without Joe Lieberman or Ben Nelson, George Bush would have free reign. Tell me all the things they have done to stop the judges, all the investigations they have conducted to find the truth. Tell me their efforts to stop the war. Please. Be detailed. I do not want to hear the stopped clock twice a day rule, when at one time Senator X voted the way an actual Democrat would. What does Joe Biden stand for? Hillary Clinton? Jay Rockefeller? Give me chapter and verse as to why a liberal Democrat should not challenge their stances, and if possible take their seats?

Our nation is dying, right before our eyes. Yesterday, a few brave souls tried to save its life. Your friends ran away, only to come back the next day when it didn't matter and show us all they could be brave when it didn't count.

Why?